This invention pertains to a unitary, disposable, baby diaper, and in particular to such a diaper which possesses, in a manner integrated with its main body structure, unique soilage-management structure that includes, in accordance with an important feature of the invention, a portion designed as a selectively deployable, diaper-main-body-attached and unitized, ultimately (i.e., at the conclusion of a diaper-changing procedure after removal of a soiled diaper from a baby) closeable and sealable, soilage-impervious disposal container, or disposal-container structure. According to this special feature of the invention, the proposed disposal container/container structure, which preferably takes the form of a lightweight plastic bag, and which is initially stored compactly in a flap-closed pocket that forms part of the soilage-management structure, is usable, after soiled-diaper removal from a baby, to receive, in their entireties, all of the soiled components of the removed diaper in preparation for easy, cleanly handleable, and convenient disposal/discard of these components as a single, compact, disposable unit. The terms “soilage” and “soiled”, and the like, employed herein refer to both urine and feces.
Preferably, although, and this at the free choice/option of the invention practicer, not necessarily, included also in the pocket of the soilage-management structure of the invention is at least one, and preferably more than one, such as perhaps three, conventional clean-up wipers (also referred to herein as wipes).
As will become very apparent from the full description of this invention as such is set forth below herein, the invention proposes, in all modifications thereof, an extremely high-utility, “all-in-one”, readied-for-baby-cleaning, and for soiled-diaper-component disposal, arrangement which offers a strikingly appealing improvement in the world of disposable diaper construction and post-soilage handling.
This invention is thus offered in relation to easing a long-standing routine which is repetitively familiar to parents and caregivers of infants everywhere—a routine which involves infant, soiled-diaper clean-up, along with subsequent handling and discarding of soiled, disposable diapers. Considering, by way of background, certain earlier and related convenience-promoting advances in diaper construction, U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,647, which issued to me in June of 1988, illustrates, describes and covers a disposable diaper that includes, as a significant, then-offered improvement, an outer, soilage-protected, soilage-impervious pocket joined to the main body of a diaper and containing one or more clean-up wipes. This earlier improvement, which I created some time ago, offers an important post-use, i.e. soiled-diaper-management, convenience for performing infant clean-up by establishing a setting wherein the diaper-included one or more clean-up wipes are thus readily at hand—not requiring that a parent, etc. regularly have on hand for home use, or with a need to transport when away from home, two categories of diaper-related packaging—one containing disposable diapers, per se, and the other holding clean-up wipes.
In the interest of aiding, as appropriate, an understanding of, and the background for, the special, new contributions made to the disposable-diaper art by the present invention, the entire disclosure content of above-identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,647 is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Augmenting the disposable-diaper improvement made by the invention described in the '647 patent, the present invention, as will become understood, offers yet other important improvements in unitary disposable-diaper construction and utility.
A key contribution to the disposable diaper art made by the present invention, as has been suggested above, involves the integration, with the main body structure of a disposable infant diaper, of soilage-management structure which features, among other things, what is referred to herein as a selectively deployable, main-body-unitized, sealable and soilage-impervious disposal-container structure. This container structure preferably takes the form of a compact, deployable, ultimately closeable and sealable, soilage-impervious bag, or bag structure, such as a lightweight plastic bag made of any suitable, conventional, lightweight plastic material. Such a bag is initially compactly folded and stored in, for ultimate, selective, pre-use deployment from, a soilage-impervious, flap-closed pouch, or pocket, formed on the outer, front side of the main body of a diaper constructed according to the invention. This bag has its normally closed end suitably attached, or affixed and unitized, solely to the diaper's main body structure at but a single attachment point, or location, which is disposed directly adjacent the openable end of the pocket, or pouch, this openable end also being referred to herein as an upper-end exposure opening for the pocket, which opening accommodates access to the inside of the pocket.
Additionally, the soilage-management structure of the invention preferably, although not necessarily, also includes, initially stored for ultimate use removal, and in the same pocket, or pouch, just mentioned, at least one, and preferably a plurality, say about three, clean-up wipes.
In relation to the background, and proposed new features, settings that have just generally been set forth, and to clarify how the special contributions of the present invention stand out from conventionality, it should be understood that, in the world today of available, disposable diapers, there are many manufactured styles of such diapers—both in terms of materials selected for construction, as well as in terms of chosen internal organizations of these materials. The present invention does not involve basic, main-body, etc., diaper construction, or any of such main-body particular features. Rather, the newly invented contributions made by the present invention contemplate additional, newly introduced diaper features which may be incorporated, in an integrated fashion, and very readily in the current constructions of otherwise conventional diaper-body structures. These conventional structures will, of course, typically be formed with appropriate soilage-capturing and soilage-leakage-control considerations.
Accordingly, no part of the present invention relies in any way upon revisions in conventional disposable-diaper main-body construction. The invention does, however, rely upon those aspects of conventional diaper-main-body materials selection and construction which assure that urine and feces discharge from an infant which soils the inside of a diaper does not, and cannot, leak to the outside surface expanse, and particularly to the frontal outside surface expanse, of the diaper's main body, per se, where components of the invention's proposed soilage-management structure are intended to be located.
With the above thoughts in mind, from one high-level point of view, the present invention can be characterized as a unitary, disposable diaper possessing integrated soilage-management structure including a deployable portion structured to form a closable and sealable, soilage-impervious disposal container, or disposal-container structure. The soilage-management structure preferably may also include at least one clean-up wiper, or wipe.
From another point of view, the invention may be described as a unitary, disposable diaper which includes a main body structure, and integrated therewith, and protected, in a pre-employed (i.e., pre-soilage, pre-use condition), against inadvertent soilage, sealable disposal-container structure employable, under a circumstance with the diaper and any associated structure soiled, to receive and seal the soiled structure as a whole in a contained and sealed condition readied for discard as a disposable unit. In a more detailed expression of the invention in this vein, the diaper's main body structure has an outer front side on which the soilage-management structure is suitably disposed, with certain of its components initially stored in a closed, but readily openable, soilage-impervious pouch, pocket, or pocket structure. The disposal container, or disposal-container structure, is affixed just to the main body structure of the diaper, and at an affixation location which is directly adjacent the openable end of the mentioned pocket/pouch. This container is preferably a readily compactible soilage-impervious bag formed of a suitable, lightweight plastic material. Additionally, and as has been mentioned above, the soilage-management structure may, and preferably does, include at least one clean-up wipe, and as a practical matter, since more than one such wipe is usually needed, I suggest that about three wipes be included—this, of course, being up to the wishes of the invention practicer.
Still another way of viewing the invention is that it features a unitary, disposable diaper having a main body structure, and integrated with this body structure, soilage-management structure, protected, in a pre-use condition, against inadvertent soilage, and including at least one clean-up wiper, and sealable disposal-container structure which is employable, under a circumstance with components of the diaper, including the at least one wiper, soiled, to receive and seal such components as a whole in a contained and sealed condition readied for discard as a disposable unit.
Yet a further way of expressing the invention, in relation to one of its possible embodiments, is that it takes the form of a unitary, disposable diaper possessing (a) a main body structure, or body, having an outer side with a front portion, (b) an initially and nominally flap-closed, but selectively openable, soilage-impervious storage pocket structure, or pocket, formed on the diaper body's outer side's front portion, having an openable, upper-end exposure opening, and an inside structured to be protected initially against any soilage incursion, and (c), initially stored within this pocket structure, (1) at least one clean-up wiper, and (2) a sealable, soilage-impervious, main-body-attached and unitized, disposal-container structure anchored just to the diaper's main body structure at the location of the just mentioned exposure opening of the storage pocket, and employable, under a circumstance with the main body structure and any other components of the diaper, including the at least one wiper, soiled, to receive all of the soiled structure and seal it in a contained condition readied for disposal.
These and other features and advantages of, and offered by, the unitary, disposable integrated-componentry diaper of the present invention will become more readily apparent as the detailed description of it which is set forth below is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.